The Emergence of Milgram's Bureaucratic Machine

Abstract

Based on documents from Yale University, this article advances new sociological insights on Milgram's experiments, which bolster and extend Russell and Gregory's largely psychological explanation. From behind‐the‐scenes, Milgram's experiments are viewed as an ideologically driven, inherently coercive, and goal‐orientated bureaucratic process. The individual links within this organisational chain included Milgram (project manager), Yale University (institutional support), the National Science Foundation (funding), Milgram's research team (the actors), ending with the final link, the “shock”‐inflicting participants. Analysis illustrates how the division of labour inherent within this bureaucratic process facilitated Milgram's high completion rates because when highly stressed participants inflicted the most intense shocks, every link in the chain had the opportunity to displace or diffuse personal responsibility for their actually or, for the participants, seemingly harmful contributions. This analysis is consistent with Durkheim's insistence that to better understand the behavior of individuals, the social—and therefore sociological—context must also be considered.